Quarterback Kirk Cousins’ debut with the newly formed Atlanta Falcons did not go as hoped.

The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Falcons 18-10 in Atlanta’s first home game of the week on Sunday, making what some expected to be a top-notch offense look pretty mediocre.

Cousins ​​completed 16 of 26 passes for 155 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. The final interception ended a fourth-quarter drive in a one-score game. Cousins ​​managed just 19 yards in the second half, the lowest total of his 13-year career.

“I was disappointed,” Cousins ​​said. “Of course disappointed. You always go out there expecting to play at a high level and we didn’t play at our level today.”

The team’s defense allowed just 18 points, but the offense looked out of shape throughout. A fumble at the snap hit tight end Ross Dwelley while he was moving. Penalties squashed promising attacks. It looks like there will be an adjustment period with new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson’s system.

“We should have played better,” Cousins ​​said. “That’s the bottom line. I thought our defense played very well; I thought our special teams played very well. We didn’t complement that enough on offense.”

The Falcons signed Cousins ​​in the offseason for four years and $180 million to end their recent quarterback woes. Cousins ​​has been a successful NFL player for over a decade and led the league in touchdown passes (18) before suffering a season-ending torn Achilles tendon in Week 8 last year.

With the signing of Cousins, there was a lot of excitement about Atlanta’s offense. The Falcons had already signed running back Bijan Robinson, wide receiver Drake London and tight end Kyle Pitts – all extremely talented playmakers – with top-10 picks in the previous three drafts. Atlanta had sold out its season ticket packages before training camp for the first time in 20 years.

On Sunday, Pitts caught a 12-yard touchdown, but he and London combined for just five passes for 41 yards. Robinson was strong on offense, but managed just 3.8 yards per carry (18 carries for 68 yards). Robinson also caught five passes for 43 yards.

“Kyle was able to score the touchdown,” said Raheem Morris, the Falcons’ new head coach. “We didn’t get the ball to Drake enough, but hey, you want to get the ball to Bijan Robinson, you want to be able to run the football a lot, you have to keep possession, you have to keep some possessions, you can’t lose the football, and when you do that, you limit the opportunity to get the ball to the playmakers, and all of those things hurt you.”

Cousins ​​said he needs to watch game film to understand exactly what went wrong for the Falcons. He said he will start doing that immediately and will send voice messages to the coaches over the next few hours.

Atlanta has another tough game scheduled for Week 2: a “Monday Night Football” duel against the Philadelphia Eagles.